Anything for Her - Complete

Chapter 41

"You're so close now, Rose. Your baby is going to be here with the next push!" Dr. Olendzki sounded excited. Gloved up with a paper apron over her scrubs, she was preparing to welcome Baby Belikov into the world. At least one part of how Rose had hoped to deliver their baby was coming to fruition.

Rose looked up at the mirror on a stand Amber had positioned so she could see her child being born. Because they were going to need to work on the baby straight away, Rose was birthing on her back, legs in stirrups. She'd hoped for a more active birth, but if it meant their baby would be alright, she was willing to do it however she was told.

Dimitri was holding Rose's hand, giving her words of encouragement and telling her how well she was doing. How proud he was of her. Rose stared at him, but it was like his words were coming from miles away. Right now, in this instant, her body was in charge and knew exactly what to do. Giving Dimitri a determined smile, Rose waited for the next contraction and nearly crushing Dimitri's hand she pushed. She could feel the burn as their baby crowned, then a slithering feeling as their baby slid free of the birth canal. And just like that, Rose and Dimitri became Mama and Papa for the second time.

Straining to look into the mirror, it was hard to see anything due to the immediate crowding around and action occurring at the end of the bed. There was no crying, but Amber had warned them that with prems there often wasn't. She'd told them it had to do with their lung development and a lack of crying did not mean a lack of breathing so not to read too much into it.

Stephanie and Jordan busy with the baby, Amber draped a towel over Rose's privates to give her some modesty. Rose could hear the team using a suction unit, while Jordan was announcing different numbers and stats to Stephanie. None of it made any sense to Rose or Dimitri, and as the minutes ticked by, it was hard not to panic. No one had yet told them anything.

Dr. Olendzki saw their nervous faces.

"He's doing well," she said, smiling at an anxious Dimitri and Rose. The second the baby was born, she'd laid it on a heated pad and stepped back so the team could take over.

"He?" Dimitri asked, not trying to hide his tears of fear and pride.

"Yes. You have a beautiful little boy!" Amber said as she was cleaning up and passing the team working on their child the items they needed. Looking up quickly and smiling at the Dhampir couple, she explained "We'll weigh him in a minute, but he's a good size for twenty-nine weeks! And he's tall, too! Do you have a name for him, yet?"

"Maxim," Rose whispered, so quietly she could hardly be heard.

"Maxim Aleksander Ivan Belikov," Dimitri answered for Rose in a firmer voice.

"We'll move him to the humidicrib in a few minutes. We just want to wait a little bit more before we clamp the cord. Dimitri? Would you like to do the honors?" Amber asked.

Dimitri nodded, too emotionally overcome to verbalize his response.

Looking intently at the mirror, as the staff stepped back momentarily, Rose could finally see their son. Small – much smaller than any baby she'd seen before – he had wispy dark hair!

"He's beautiful, Comrade!" Rose said, looking up at Dimitri. He'd moved to stand beside her, and with his height, he was able to peer over and see their son.

"He's perfect," Dimitri agreed, turning to face Rose.

"So far he's holding his own," Amber told them. "He's looking more like a thirty-one or thirty-two-week baby. Is there any chance your dates were confused?"